


A Jingle For Your Sadness

by TellerOfTime



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Gender Neutral (Mainly), Hugs, I don't know how this works, In The Middle Of The Forest, One Shot, POV Second Person, Reader-Insert, Splendy, Strangers, angsty, cause why not, kinda long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25561291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TellerOfTime/pseuds/TellerOfTime
Summary: What happens when you are lost, crying in the woods, with a soft sound of bells chiming in the distance?
Relationships: Splendorman/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	A Jingle For Your Sadness

Shadows enveloped the shrubbery as the moonlight struggled to push through the thick layer of leaves and branches that towered up above you.

In some areas, specs of light branched out like bars, causing small leaves to glisten and shine within the dark of the soil. The light itself was sharp, as if able to physically cut your skin, and although bright in some areas, the majority of it was dull and faint as the moonlight reflected above the canopy.

Saplings swayed and the wind whistled a sharp melody. It was an uncomfortable tune that sparked your impulse to cover your ears but it wasn't painful. It caused the small bristles of grass to give off a soft shush sound. In addition, the forest critters gave out gentle yowls and hoots and chirps, altogether forming a whole ensemble.

To this, the darkness pranced around, daring not to disrupt the animals and instead dancing within the deepest of cracks and crevasses.

And you? You sat down crouched by a large, wisened tree and a set of thick shrubs which covered and sheltered your body from the otherwise terrifying calm of the forest.

You didn't know why you felt this way: constantly tired and upset. Recently, a negative aura has surrounded your very being. Its darkness sunk deep into your pores and it weigh down on your soul, though there was no excuse for its presence. With a healthy sleep schedule there was no apparent reason for your sluggishness and lack of motivation. A nutritional diet and frequent jogs left no sign of misery.

And yet you felt like this. Why did you feel like this? So broken and miserable...

Tears began to fall as you focused more and more on the sadness that resonated within your chest. In its path it left a stabbing ache and a feeling of guilt began to set within your mind. This terrible feeling of dread felt suffocating... Was it your fault? Why did it always feel like your fault?

Everything you did up until now was good, wasn't it? You had a stable job and a pleasant relationship with your friends and family. You even took on charity work to help those in need. And yet, although everything around you couldn't be more perfect, the feeling of depression clouded your heart. You have never suffered like this. Before, you used to get days of sadness but the emotions were never this strong. It felt as if the very air around you was toxic and the noises felt ever so harmful.

Except for one noise...

After a pained sob your head perked up, listening and focusing on the noises in the distance. You could swear you heard an odd noise. Something that shouldn't be out here, in the middle of the night, in this forest as it was usually left alone. The noise you heard could not have been made by the natural world. Or at least as natural as it could be. The noise was too scattered for the wind to make it. Too high pitched for paw steps. Too obscure for an animal call.

And there! There it was again, a sound like small bells traveling in the night's breeze. It stood out against the whistle as it was much more tranquil. Much more... Serene.

Pushing past the terrible ache that lay thick in your heart, you stood up slowly, carefully eyeing the terrain around you. It was difficult keeping the sobs within your throat. They threatened to break loose but you didn't want to scare the person or creature that was making the chiming noise. That is, if it even was a living thing. You also weren't certain if the thing making those noises was going to prove a danger to you. You wanted to check on it silently and stealthily. For your own sake more than theirs.

Unfortunately, the most you could do is let out gentle heaves and gasps and let the tears cascade down your cheeks. Stopping such a powerful breakdown was quite literally impossible. At least for you. It also didn't help that you already felt breathless. Limiting yourself to such pathetic whimpers was the best you could do in your current state of mind.

Another jingle sounded and your head spun in the direction it came from. With a hand over your mouth, you took careful steps towards it. It hurt your eyes when you strained them in the darkness, but you did your best to not only memorize your way back, but also to not hurt yourself as you traversed the rough and uneven terrain.

You ducked under some low-lying branches, hopped over a set of large boulders and barely avoided an uncomfortable fall into a large puddle of muddy water. But, eventually, the sound became louder and much more prominent against the natural noise of the forest. The melody that the sound provided was such a gentle tune that you felt your heart melting and your tears subsiding. As you were fairly close now, you could tell that the sound was definitely that of bells. Small and gentle bells that caused the sadness to disappear and a delightful joy to settle in its place.

A few more paces forward and you noticed a clearing where the moonlight shone almost as brightly as the sunlight at dawn. It painted the nature a beautiful blue and highlighted everything with a delicate white glow. The whistling of the wind also stopped as you stepped out into the said opening. It was so beautiful and yet...

The bells have stopped.

Panicked, you frantically looked around. The joy began to fade and the overwhelming sadness returned. Your thoughts from before plummeted back into your mind with such force that your knees buckled and you collapsed onto the wet soil. A pain began to echo in your head, pounding in time with the sobs and your racing heartbeat.

Right... those emotions never truly disappeared. They were just nullified by your distraction and the peaceful bells that made your soul feel unnaturally secure. Underneath that safety the attack threatened to re-emerge, and here it was: re-emerging. The tears fell heavy like an unstable downpour. You felt broken once again-

"I'm sorry," a cheerful yet earnest voice cautiously rang out, causing your head to shoot up to look at its source.

Fear replaced the sadness as towering before you was an unnaturally tall, masculine, humanoid creature with deep-cast eyes and a wide, black smile that lacked any form of teeth. The being wore a three piece suit consisting of a black blazer and black dress pants that were both decorated in large, brightly coloured polkadots, and a bright red vest that was fitted tightly around its chest. Around its neck was a crimson bowtie that matched perfectly with the aforementioned vest and the ribbon that surrounded the black top-hat that sat still atop its head. However, although the attire may have been that of a human, you knew that whatever it was, was definitely not human.

You felt your instincts yelling at you to stand up and run back to the safety and security of your home. Your hands were clawing at the dirt below you as you began to hyperventilate, panicking and trembling due to both sadness and terrible fear. Why was life this cruel? You knew not to judge a book by its cover but did that still apply to supernatural entities? At this point you weren't even sure if the creature was real or not, especially when inky black tendrils emerged from its back, wiggling like worms on a rainy day, with bells of gold protruding from their tips. And then the bells rang again.

That is when you froze.

That pacific sound of bells was from it?

Your eyes widened in both shock and curiosity as you fought to regain composure. The tendrils swished around and with each jerk a soft ting rang out.

So the bells truly were from this entity...

Steadying your mind, you took a few deep breathes although they were all sharp and rocked alongside your pathetic sobs. You felt worthless in-front of this creature. So small and fragile and with sweat covering your forehead. Not to mention the tears have dampened the collar of your jacket.

Hopefully this creature wasn't here to hurt you. The bells could have easily been a method of luring prey in like the light of an anglerfish. Maybe this was the way it hunted, intriguing weak minded humans with the tranquil sound of bells. Or maybe this was its form of amusement: playing with your emotions. What if the creature was setting you up for your own demise?

That is why you took notice of the beings placement. It had taken a few steps away from you and was now crouching down, being at head-height with your quivering form. Its dark eyes held sympathy and it waited patiently for you to become more comfortable with its presence. In a way, the creature was treating you like a frightened puppy that got lost in the woods. And, in a way, that is exactly what you felt like.

"I'm sorry I stopped the bells before. I'm much more familiar with children, and adults tend to have a more aggressive reaction towards my presence," the creature apologised again when it felt you were calm enough to listen. You didn't understand why it would apologise. That is, until you remembered how tranquil your soul felt at the sound of the bells and then how much it broke you for them to stop. After understanding that, you nodded, still not daring to move your gaze away from it. Your eyes were stinging due to the tears and your head was growing a mighty migraine that would rein havoc over your body if you were to cry any longer. At least now you weren't feeling so sacred.

In reality, your mind should have been feeling more fear than it did. This was an unknown entity, or at least it wasn't known to the media, and you had no way of defending yourself. Plus, the creature didn't do anything to prove its innocence to you apart from acting like a comforting presence. Then again, that could all be just an act.

Even with that doubt you couldn't fear the creature to the full potential your emotions could muster; the bells jingled a melody that soothed your worries. Whatever magic the creature was using- if it even was magic- was not strong enough to 'cure' your sadness, but it did ease the fear. It was good enough for now and you chose to embrace it rather than reject it.

Suddenly, the being spoke up.

"May I?" It asked, reaching out towards your face. Slowly, its hand moved through the gap between you with a practiced movement, closer and closer until you involuntarily whimpered. Its long fingers stopped half a meter away, recoiling a little bit and the jingling of bells sounded again. Was it trying to calm you? With such a conscience was it even okay for you to call it an 'it'.

Either way you weren't sure how you were going to answer its question. Your imagination had a rough idea of what it was planning to do, but you could never be too sure. Especially when knowing that this creature wasn't human.

So you thought of your options. If you agreed, the entity could easily change its stance and hurt you. However, if you stood up, it could grab you with ease with its prolonged, thin arms. If you were lucky enough to get a chance to run, the creature could easily catch up to you with its long legs and if you said no... You weren't quite sure...

So, you gingerly nodded your head, closing your eyes and preparing for the worst.

But the worst didn't come.

In fact, all that came was a gentle finger that wiped away the tears from your cheeks. Warmth transferred into your skin through the creature's glove and you felt yourself melting at the kindness of the gesture. You felt a tingling energy flow into you and instantly you felt a little bit braver. It felt good.

Eventually, you carefully opened your eyes, looking straight at the soft expression of the creature. Maybe it wasn't evil after all. Maybe it just felt your sadness. Maybe... Maybe it just wanted to help you, as peculiar as that sounded.

"My name is Splendor Man, but you can call me Splendy if you so wish," It spoke with a smile on its face. It... you should stop calling it that. There is 'man' in its name so maybe it will be best to use male pronouns... You weren't comfortable enough to ask but it had to be done. Hopefully without major consequences on your part. At least now you felt safe enough to do so.

"Splendor Man?" you spoke up in a hushed tone, your voice cracking and forcing you to take in a sharp breath. Although you have began to grow accustomed to the being being there, it was still only a short amount of time and your emotions were still frazzled. Fortunately the creature- Splendy- didn't mind your actions. It, he? only nodded for you to continue, a bright smile appearing at the sight of your bravery.

"This- This may seem like a stupid question but... What are your preferred pronouns?" Instantly you shied away, doing your best to focus on the sound of the bells. They tinkled and jingled, more so now that Splendy noticed your discomfort. It was very kind of it to do that.

"I don't really mind what terms you use, but if it makes you more comfortable, you can use male pronouns," it, or should you now say he, answered your question with no trouble at all. It proved to you that this creature, Splendor Man, understood humans and their modern terminology. It made you curious as to how much he knew but you didn't dare to pry.

"So... can you tell me why you were crying?"

You flinched at his words. Although they were soft and meant no harm, your heart still sank. Right, you have forgotten why you came to the forrest in the first place. You felt empty and your soul felt neglected. Everything seemed pointless, the feelings so strong that you felt more secure in the darkness of the woods than your own home. You came to this forest to cry and look where you ended up: in the presence of a supernatural entity.

Cold air pushed against you cheek as you moved your head away from his hand. It stung against the salty trails of tears and bit at the exposed skin. Your eyes slowly fell, unfocusing when they reached the brown, moist dirt bellow you. At first you didn't want to admit it, but now you knew that the only reason you weren't crying right now was because of Splendy. He and his bells have fought to lift your spirits from the very moment you heard them. With such kindness, he did his best to keep your mind distracted from the negativity that only now began to melt away. Empathic abilities pushed away your fear just to make you more comfortable with his presence.

Truly, this was a very kind being.

A bell chimed from in front of your eyes forcing you to focus back into the present, noticing the tendril as it slivered into your gaze. It rattled and you felt yourself getting distracted by it. It was so shiny and such a happy little object. Impulsively, you grabbed hold of it, balancing it between you dirty palms. Although they were dirty with the soil you clawed at before, Splendy didn't mind and instead only shook the bells more, making you smile.

"I don't actually know," you finally admitted, doing your best to focus on the bell that lay within you hands. It proved to be difficult to talk about your broken emotions and keep a grasp on the tranquility but you did your best. "Recently I've been feeling down in the dumps and I-I thought those emotions would eventually go away but they just... grew, until they eventually came breaking down and I- I-"

Already you felt the tears falling, hiccuping and sobbing a little bit. You couldn't hold it in. It hurt too much even for the wonder the bells radiated.

Splendy only waited patiently for you to calm down, jingling his bells to comfort you. But, when he noticed that you weren't calming down, he readjusted his posture, sitting crosslegged on the soil and pulling you up into his arms.

You didn't flinch. In fact, you grabbed hold of his polkadot blazer and began to cry in his arms as he gently stroked your head, combing his thin fingers through your hair. He shushed and lulled you, speaking words of comfort all whilst he rocked back and forth, allowing you to cry. His bells were like a melody to your ears and soul, your soul slowly being drained of the darkness that clouded it. It felt good to cry.

"You know," Splendy spoke up whilst still rocking you in his arms, "Sometimes the best medicine for sadness is tears. The longer you bottle it up the more likely it is that it will overflow and maybe even shatter the 'bottle'. Letting it out like this always helps."

His words made so much sense; you never spoke about your emotions, and maybe that was the problem. You had a healthy body and a healthy mind but your spirit was the one that was subconsciously taking all the blows. You were so glad that you have found that out sooner rather than later, when the spirit would have been far too damaged to fix and aid.

It took a while for the hurt to fade...

"Thank you for finding me," you eventually whispered when your tears have subsided. You felt far better than you could actually believe. Crying by yourself in the forest would have probably been enough but crying in the the arms of an Empathic crytid that chimed bells to calm you felt so much better. Though it did feel extremely surreal.

"Thank you for trusting me."

Your smile was broken by a large yawn. Golden rays of light began to peak through the opening in the canopy and the tops of the surrounding trees glistened like stardust. It was already dawn, telling you that you have spent an entire night in the forest. Early birds interrupted the sound of the bells with their loud and joyful chirps that echoed throughout the forest and for the first time in the night, your soul lacked any of that suffocating sadness that has been resonating in your chest. It was all gone.

"Well then, we should probably get you to bed," Splendy said joyously. He picked you up into his arms and stood up. You squealed when you noticed just how high up you really were and how tall he actually was. You could see the entirety of the clearing and all the tiny details engraved inside of it. From the tiny burrows to the fresh flowers that opened up, waiting to feast on the morning light. Grabbing at his clothes, you tried to steady yourself whilst scanning over the area. It was beautiful!

"Now, try and picture your home for me," he said with a delicate chuckle.

His words broke you from your trance and left you puzzled. You didn't know why he asked you for this, but you complied to his peculiar request. With your mood now elated, you thought of your home-

You pictured the green grass that swayed briskly in the chilly wind. You pictured the way the light always reflected off the bricks and the roof and you made sure to imagine all of the engraved details on your front door. You also happened to entertain the emotions that came with your home: safety and closure.

Suddenly, you felt the wind change and when you opened your eyes, you were standing in your back-garden. Of course, you were shocked at first, but after remembering who's arms you were currently being held in, you accepted this phenomenon as fact.

"I'll be leaving you here," Splendor Man spoke, setting you down and keeping ahold of you until he was certain that you could stand on your own. His bells jingled again and you smiled up at him. In truth, you didn't want him to leave you alone, as although you were feeling better, there was a chance that the sadness would return. However, you also understood that this sentient creature had a place to come back to or even another person like you to help. Somebody that need that emotional support.

"But, before I go," he added quickly, "I want to give you this." Out of his polkadot blazer, he pulled out two golden bells that were tied together on two, long, red strings. The bells sparkled like stardust and when he bounced them around they made an angelic sound like heavenly magic. "If you ever feel sad, all you need to do is use these bells and the melody will sooth you. You know, a jingle for your sadness. And if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, just make a wish and call my name. I will be there."

You smiled at the thought of his tenderness and gingerly took the bells into your own hands. They were light and delicate yet even just the slightest touch of their radiant shell made you smile a pleasant grin. You were happy, and you could tell that Splendy felt it too, albite through you.

"Thank you," you said in a much louder and confident voice than you presented the very first time you spoke to him. You felt more confident, and you couldn't help but be thankful towards Splendor Man.

With a final, childish bow, Splendy took a step away from you, leaving you by your backdoor as he traversed to the centre of your garden. With wide eyes he grinned at you, waving his slim fingers to which you waved back. And then, just like a dream, he disappeared into a cloud of colourful smoke, sparkles dancing in the wind around it. You would have felt like this was a dream if it weren't for the jingling bells in your hand.

You truly felt at home.

"Thank you..."

-END-


End file.
